Evan Fournier: ‘I hated not being at Olympics’

Evan Fournier opened up publicly about his exclusion from the French National Team at the Rio Olympics. Poor communication leaves his future in doubt.

Evan Fournier had a big summer ahead of himself this year. He was going to make a pretty penny in free agency and had to protect that asset first and foremost. Fournier also had the Olympics to look forward to. And while he did not plan to play in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament that would ensure France made it to Rio, he was fairly confident he would join the team in Rio should they qualify.

That did not happen. France left Fournier off the Olympic roster. French coach Vincent Collet opted to stick with the guards who played well in the Philippines during the qualifying tournament. He only added Rudy Gobert to the roster.

France left Fournier, perhaps the best guard in the French system outside of Tony Parker, at home.

And that stung Fournier. A summer that was as big as it could be professionally, left Fournier on the sideline for the biggest moment of his basketball career. The Olympics only come once every four years. This was a prime time for Fournier to play for and represent his country.

Fournier “broke his silence” of sorts to L’Equipe Magazine in France and the decision to be kept off the roster hurt him personally. Especially the way Collet and the French Basketball Federation managed the decision. (Translation via Eurohoops.net)

"“I hated not being in the Olympic Games,” Fournier said. “I had suspected that I won’t make the cut a week before I was informed about it. I was reading interviews where only Rudy (Gobert) was mentioned among the players who didn’t play in the OQT but would go to Rio. In the end, I received a voicemail by Vincent Collet that briefly explained the reasons I was left out.”"

Fournier said he opted not to speak about his frustrations during the Olympics so the team could focus on the games. France was eliminated in the quarterfinal round after advancing out of group play.

The guard tandem of Thomas Huertl and Antoine Diot averaged a combined 13.7 points per game with a 53.2 percent field goal percentage and 60.5 effective field goal percentage. Diot especially struggled.

The decision had other ramifications too.

Fournier told L’Equipe he asked his agent to finish his contract details quickly because he wanted to rejoin the Olympic team as quickly as possible. Fournier said he took less money to stay with the Magic. That may very well have been a decision he would have made anyway.

It clearly frustrated him a lot that he missed out on the Olympics. This was the first major international tournament he has missed for France since 2012, when he was drafted. He will not be a free agent in four years for Tokyo, provided he stays healthy and the relationship with him and the national team is repaired.

Fournier complained how little communication there was between him, the federation and coach Vincent Collet. He said the only time the national team checked in on him was one trip to Orlando from a federation official. That trip, Fournier said, was only to inform him of the dates for qualifying. France made no statement to him that missing the tournament would threaten his spot on the Olympic team.

It is clearly a frustrating and upsetting situation for Fournier. He was clearly disappointed in the decision.

Enough that his status to play for France in future tournaments — including Eurobasket next summer — could be in jeopardy. Fournier said he would not close the door on playing internationally again. But he said how France handled his status “sent a clear message.”

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And that message was that he was out of the picture for France. That is incredibly disappointing and surely frustrating for one of the country’s most promising and patriotic players.